Donegal software jobs `a huge breakthrough'

The decision by the Prudential Insurance Company of America to set up a software development centre employing 150 people in Letterkenny has been hailed as "a huge breakthrough" by the chairman of the Donegal Employment Initiative Task Force, Mr Michael McLoone.

What is significant about yesterday's announcement is not the number of jobs, but the nature of the company and the quality of jobs involved, as all 150 will be for people with qualifications and experience in information technology. The company has promised high rates of pay that will be "reasonably competitive with Dublin".

The Prudential Insurance Company of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, employing some 65,000 people globally. The Letterkenny operation will be known as Prumerica Systems Ireland and recruitment adverts appear in today's newspapers.

Mr McLoone, who is also county manager, said the task force report had focused on the need to move Donegal's economy away from its dependence on traditional sectors towards high-tech areas and, in particular, software development.

"This is a huge breakthrough - to get jobs not just for graduates, but for graduates in the high-tech sector," Mr McLoone said. "And hopefully we can use this to attract others. If a company with such an international reputation can make this decision, we will be saying why can't others make it here as well," he added.

The announcement was made by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, who was meeting company executives in the United States. In Letterkenny, Prudential's senior vice-president, Mr Bill Friel, said the company would start operations in July when it moved from temporary offices into a facility at the new IDA office park in the town. He expected all 150 jobs to come on stream within about 18 months.

It will be the company's first development centre outside the United States and Letterkenny was chosen because of the quality of the workforce and the high-quality skills available. He said another important factor was the "quality lifestyle" in Donegal, which would help attract people from other parts of Ireland and back from overseas.

Mr Friel also praised the Institute of Technology in Letterkenny, saying it was "very impressive" and that the company intended to work closely with the college.

Donegal's relatively poor infrastructure was not seen as sufficiently serious to deter the company. Mr Friel said he would like to see a Derry/Dublin air link established as soon as possible, but was satisfied with the telecommunications infrastructure and with the promise that the roads were going to be improved.

Mr McLoone said he was particularly pleased at the role played by the Institute of Technology. The task force report had highlighted that Donegal had the capacity to absorb only 30 per cent of graduates from the college. This compares to a capacity on the east coast of 150 per cent of all graduates there. Of the graduates who were able to get jobs in Donegal, most were in professional services such as accounting and business.

The IDA's area director in the Border region, Mr Frank Conlon, said it would be a flagship project for the north-west. It "fitted perfectly" with the IDA strategy for the region and with each company like Prudential or Pacificare, which located there 12 months ago, it became easier to market the region, he said.